DTS-T - A ZDoom megawad [available now]

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This is called a "homage". Please watch The Fellowship Of The Ring. :-)

I've seen that films twice and the "homage" was still not something I'd have guessed at. It just seems like unnecessary hamming on your/Reiley's part.

As for Vivarium - "Monster Zoo" is always a bad idea. Your implementation is actually worse than most (The Rebirth MAP32 is on a par for being as bad, IIRC) because not only are all of the monsters separated completely (aside from the Arch-Vile bit at the end, which was more of a tiresome case of backtracking) but the environments they're in are largely similar and all have to be approached roughly the same way. The fact that there is a corner that you have to nudge your way around in all of them and a tight area for things to bunch up when the AVs do their thing just makes it worse.

The best I've ever seen a "Monster Zoo" done was in an escape.wad (which actually included a The Great Escape level) because it looked like a real zoo, had varied enclosures and rather than you going in and fighting the monsters, they either could attack you from their cages or were behind forcefields, so you had to deactivate the power to the whole zoo, thus lowering them and having the monsters overrun the park. Even this map wasn't great - just the best of a bad sort.

Personally I found the BFG welcome, as it sped up clearing out some of the hordes (like in the Vivarium) and the lack of pistol start compatibility is fine in a story-oriented game like DTS-T.

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Every map has the basic weapons shotgun/chaingun/ssg/plasma even though you already have them. [...] Again, if you are against pistol start, make it clear through weapon placement (or lack thereof).

You are partly right, in that I maybe placed some of the weapons too frequently. However, I would have never suspected to lure people into attempting pistol starts by this. One of the reasons I placed weapons again, is to give people that missed a weapon a chance to pick it up later on. For example, I got several reports of people, who missed out on the rocket launcher in map07 and were able to pick it up in map10 then. While I will probably reduce redundant weapon placement in future works, I will not abandon it altogether (especially not on the alleged risk of luring people into an unsupported playstyle).

killer2 said:

Also, some players like "feeling" the weapon progression. Giving all the weapons right from the start leaves little to expect. There's no more "man, I can't wait to find that BFG!" going on. Another problem is that you get way too many cells.

Feeling of weapon progression is exactly what I had in mind for DTS-T! I fail to see how getting the BFG after 22 levels does not invoke that feeling. In a lot of megawads out there you get it in, like, map07. If you warped into the final chapter, then, yes, you get it after two levels. DTS-T was not designed for warping.

Also, play the rest of the chapter. :) Just yesterday a friend emailed me, complaining that he ran out of cells near the end of the game.

killer2 said:

I never meant it as an insult, of course. And I was aware this here might have been the case, but I was not sure.

I didn't take it as one, don't worry. :) It was just that I was like "WTF?" when reading it for the first time.

On Vivarium: If people don't like zoos, that's fine. It's a personal taste. I like the level and I got feedback from others liking it. If some don't, then that's fine as well. :) I won't do it again, simply because I have done "my zoo level" now.

On the homage: I see how people could find it distracting. I love it, I can't help it. It's not like Riley's kidding every other level or so.

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Map 28 really took me by surprise with its recreation of Minas Morgûl and the stairs of Cirith Ungol from Lord of the Rings. You even had the fallen lembas cookies laying on the ground and Shelob's Lair! =D The last bit at the gates of Mordor was epic, if a bit plain-looking.